SEC Network announces league slate of LSU games

BATON ROUGE - The new SEC Network highlighted its second day of operation Friday night by announcing the 18-game Southeastern Conference men's basketball schedules for the 14-team league, including the list of dates and games for Coach Johnny Jones and his LSU Tigers.

The schedule is highlighted by a demanding three-games in six day homestand to start the month of February as LSU will host Auburn on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 6 p.m. on ESPN or ESPN2; a Saturday, Feb. 7, home contest with Alabama on ESPN or ESPN2; and, the rematch of the "Ice Dome" game from last year on a wintry night in Baton Rouge as LSU again hosts Kentucky on ESPN in a "Super Tuesday" matchup at 6 p.m. on Feb. 10.

This year the league schedule will put seven league contests on each Saturday of the season with games spaced out on weeknights as follows: Tuesday - 4 games (1 ESPN, 1 ESPNU, 2 SEC Network); Wednesday - 2 games (both SEC Network); and, Thursday - 1 game (on ESPN or ESPN2).

On Saturdays, the SEC Network will have either two or three games with the rest split among ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU, CBS and FSN.

Of the 18 games, LSU will appear on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU a total of 10 times, with six on the SEC Network, one on CBS and one on FSN.

LSU's game at the Maravich Center will be on CBS, on Saturday, Feb. 21, at Noon. It will be the second straight year that CBS has televised the Tigers and the Gators, but the first time CBS has televised an LSU men's basketball home game since Feb. 24, 2007, when LSU upset the third-ranked Gators, 66-56.

The Tigers open the 2015 SEC slate at Missouri as the Tigers will make their second trip there for a league game on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 6 p.m. on either ESPN or ESPN2. LSU's SEC home opener is Saturday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m. against the University of Georgia on ESPNU. LSU's first contest on the SEC Network will be a road game at Ole Miss at 6 p.m. on Jan. 14.

Five of LSU's six SEC Network games will be from road venues in the league.

LSU will play Texas A&M both home and away as usual in the present model of the 18-game schedule and in the third of three years of scheduling, the Tigers will also play home-and-home games with Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss and Tennessee. Next year, the league is expected to add two more permanent opponents, for a total of three, and two rotating spots that will be the five home-and-home contests each year.

Each of the 126 games will be available to be seen from anywhere in the nation. ESPN or ESPN2 will televise 31 contests, ESPNU 18 and CBS six. The SEC's games on ESPN platforms are exclusively branded as the "SEC on ESPN." Additionally, The SEC Network will televise 58 intra-conference games while Fox Sports Net will show 13 contests.

All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and Fox Sports Net) will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider. Each of the CBS games will be streamed on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports mobile app and mobile website.

The complete 2014-15 LSU men's basketball schedule (including the already announced non-conference games) is available online at LSUsports.net. Other start times and broadcast information for non-conference games will be added to that schedule once they are announced.